[Air-l] "listserve"

[Amelia Kassel]

I don't know the origin but I'll add my experience. At one time (perhaps
still?) Listserv was a trademark.  To avoid using a trademark that referred
to a specific product, information professionals and librarians began using
the term listserve with an e to generically refer to electronic discussion
groups of the "mailing" list (Listserv actual product name) variety.

Amelia, MarketingBase 

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-----Original Message-----
From: air-l-bounces at listserv.aoir.org
[mailto:air-l-bounces at listserv.aoir.org] On Behalf Of Alex -Vipowernet
Sent: Tuesday, May 29, 2007 7:39 AM
To: air-l at listserv.aoir.org; ellis.godard at csun.edu
Subject: Re: [Air-l] "listserve"

In the DOS era - before Windows - all file names were 8 characters long, so
listserve.exe would have been truncated to listserv.exe. Probably the reason
it is 8 characters long.  Who did it? Who wrote it? No idea... 

Alex Randall - survivor of DOS 1.0 in 1981... 

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Ellis Godard 
  To: air-l at listserv.aoir.org 
  Sent: Tuesday, May 29, 2007 12:02 AM
  Subject: [Air-l] "listserve"


  I may have asked this before (I know I've at least raised the issue
  elsewhere, perhaps not here), but anyone how or when mailing lists became
  "listserves"? The etymological origin is probably ListServ (with
MajorDomo,
  one of the leading mailing list software programs) and "list server", that
  beast which manages mailing lists. Was the adoption vague and gradual, or
is
  there someone to whom blame (credit?) can be pinned?

  -eg


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